books
Book Review: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (A Novel)
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (A Novel)
Marina Lewycka
Penguin Press (March 17, 2005)
The premise of this fun little novel is simple: An elderly Ukrainian widower in Britain falls in love with a voluptuous young Ukrainian woman and brings her over to the UK. Kanye West has told this story before — Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger, but she ain’t messin’ wit no broke . . . well, actually he is broke. And when she realizes the old man’s pension won’t provide the luxuries of the West, things get rocky. His two feuding daughters must then rescue him from her clutches, despite their mutual loathing.
I actually began the novel with some trepidation as it borders on Chick Lit, and I am a non-chick. Lewycka does include many conventions of the genre — intra-familial drama, chatty narration, Dark Family Secrets, and feckless male characters. Nevertheless, her wit and comic timing rescue the novel, as does the genuinely interesting history she weaves into the narrative. Her treatment of Ukrainian emigre life and her characterization are also spot on. The Ukrainian characters all rang true with me — the strong, matriarchal mother, the grasping, stilleto-heeled beauty and the cerebral, absent-minded “engineer” are types you often meet in Ukraine.
Much of Tractors coincides directly with my thesis topic, and I’m impressed with how well she drew in the history of Soviet Ukraine, World War II, and the plight of the Displaced Persons. If I have a quibble, it’s in her overly dark view of modern-day Ukraine. But this is a tiny flaw in an otherwise enjoyable read.
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I got a kick out of that book too. Are we dangerously in touch with our feminine sides?
Send me your answer on scented lavender notepaper.
Heh!
Sadly, I’m afraid my video left no doubt of that. . .
Have Andrei Kurkov or Viktor Pelevin written anything good lately? Any other Uke books I should watch for?
Read it and laughed, but felt/thought it was also incredibly sad in parts.
You’d guess who recommended it; learned through him/his friend that the characterizations, as you say, are accurate.
Suppose you’ve read BORDERLAND: A journey through the history of Ukraine by Anna Reid. Same guy recommended it to us. It’s excellent, IMHO.
FL Grandma-
“Read it and laughed, but felt/thought it was also incredibly sad in parts.”
Without giving any spoilers to others, I really liked the interaction of the sisters and the way in which their personal histories and personalities were so well connected. . .
I actually read Borderland right before we headed overseas. Good book. I -wish- I had read either Subtelny or Magocsi’s histories of Ukraine before going over as well. I missed so many nuances of the culture. . . What an incredibly convoluted history.
So many parts of “. . .Tractors” rang true for me. Sad and hopeful both–just as Ukraine is, just as the reality of immigration is. . . And FlGma, I really liked “Borderlands.” As a result of that book and some discussions with various people, I’m always sure to say V Ukraina, not Na Ukraina–it’s the difference between saying “in Ukraine” (and legitimizing Ukraine as a country) and “in the Ukraine” (and referring to Ukraine as simply a borderland of Russia.)
Btw, hope you’re having a wonderful visit with your guests!